When the Dodgers hang a 15-spot on the Phillies, there isn’t a whole lot to feel too good about. But the way the Phillies allowed most of those runs is even more troubling.

Forget that Kyle Kendrick didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. KK had put together three very good starts in a row, and last night was an example of what common folk call “the law of averages” and math majors refer to as “regression to the mean.” Plain and simple, he was due to get hit around, and did he ever against the Dodgers.

Over the course of a 162-game season, any team’s fifth starter is going to give up plenty of runs and have more than a few bad nights. After all, that’s why he’s the fifth starter. Injuries notwithstanding, the Phillies’ real problem was encapsulated by what happened after Kendrick was out of the game. The offense mounted a rally, but the bullpen couldn’t keep the Dodgers at bay, allowing nine – nine! – earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. David Herndon, Danys Baez and, sadly, even J.C. Romero … do you trust these guys to consistently get batters out when called upon? (I won’t lump Antonio Bastardo with them because he’s only recently returned to the Phillies, but his ERA is 5.54, so maybe he should be grouped there too.) After Tuesday’s blowup, the Phillies’ bullpen ERA is 4.26, which ranks 10th in the NL and 19th in the major leagues. The Braves, by comparison, were almost a full run better (3.22) entering Wednesday – good enough to rank third in the league and fifth in the bigs.

Ruben Amaro has apparently hitched his star to starting pitching, and the Phillies are going to need an extra-strength dose of it tonight from Roy Oswalt. As for the team the Phillies are chasing, the Braves won again today – despite another blown save by Billy Wagner and the absence of Larry Wayne Jones, who reportedly was feeling much better after spraining his left knee in last night’s comeback win over the Astros. Jones is scheduled to have an MRI Thursday, and it appears the outlook is much better than when he was writhing in pain on the field.

Also, don’t forget – you can reach us on our new hotline to rant and rave about all things Phillies. The number is (801)-TRADE ME. That’s (801) 872-3363.

My roommate got this once in college. The name stuck out, as did the fact that you could get a 30-pack for the same price as a case of Natty Light. That’s right. This beer is cheaper than Natty Light. I was too scared to try any, but according to my roommate, it’s the pisswater to end all pisswater. And this is coming from the guy who drank heavy Busch for four years. Enjoy.– By Michael

Let’s continue the hitting. Oswalt deserves a nice offensive output from the Phightins. Hopefully the bullpen will show up tonight and not blow the game. Keep all fingers and toes crossed. We really need this win. Billingsley can be very tough.

Incicentally, somebody told me that Chad Billingsley is the grandson of Barbara Billingsley, who starred as the mother on ” Leave It To Beaver”
way back in the 1960’s and sometimes still seen as a rerun on TV today.

I saw the pictures and article of Howard walking around Dorney Park on Monday. If these pictures are real, and they are thats aweful. 4 hours in the park. I thought he was hurt. This is whats wrong with the players of today. If you can walk a theme park then get on that field and play hard in pain. We all did. Heck I played college ball at rutgers with a torn muscle. They told me to have surgery. I said noway. I played every minute in pain.

greetings all ! ———– sup phillyboy ? —– dam astro’s , wagner blows the save and braves hammer them anyway . I tell ya what , the braves are not gonna make this easy theyre pitchin is too good. I keep waitin for them to go on 3 and 7 trip but it ain’t happening. This game tonite is the exact reason we got oswalt , tomorrow’s pitching matchup favors dodgers so he has to give us a gem tonite.

the phils will say d-brown needs to play everyday . There may be some wisdom to that , can he perform off the bench (cold) in a big spot ?
My answer would be , NO WORSE THAN DOBBS ! —– that how the phils will spin it though if they send him down.

There’s a story on the Phillies website indicating that Brown would be the odd man out… I said it a few days ago… something’s gotta give and unfortunately, I’m not sure if they feel like Brown is best suited sitting on the bench (which is what he would do with Vic, Werth and Ibanez inked to start). However, they would add him once rosters expand and if we made it into the WS, you could have him start and let Ibanez DH. One step at a time but we would have one hell of a lineup in AL format.

Polly is one hell of a ballplayer… I was one of the biggest advocates for keeping Feliz and not spending the money on a guy that I thought couldn’t play third but I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Dynamite player…

when we were pressing during the slump the free swinging was making me nuts , remember the game PAVANO started , he threw like 80 pitches thru 8 innings , i like the selectiveness i just saw from raul and jason.—– make this gut throw strikes ! i hate the YANKEES but nobody takes more pitches than yankees/ and red sox. ——- dom browns speed prevents DP ! ——- NICE RBI YOUNG MAN!

UNREAL !!!!!!!!!!!!! COME ON JIMMY !!! HE SWUNG AT AN OUTSIDE PITCH AND TRIED TO PULL IT !!!! —— HE HAS TO LOOK FOR A BALL TO DRIVE EVEN IF ITS A FLY OUT TO THE OUTFIELD , VERY POOR JOB BY JIMMY THERE .

OSWALTS GETTIN STRONGER , 95 MPH ON THAT LAST PITCH !!!!
I’M GONNA GET AHEAD OF MYSELF HERE BOY’S
JUST GET US IN THE PLAYOFFS HEALTHY !
IMAGINE THE REAL STARTING LINEUP , AND H2O PITCHING !
I THINK WE CAN EVEN GO WITH A 3 MAN ROTATION IN THE PLAYOFFS
DOC HAS ALREADY SAID HE CAN PITCH 3 GAMES IN A 7 GAME SERIES.

Ibañez played First Base a long time ago. It’d be VERY nice if he could play still, put Francisco in Left. Sweeney hasn’t played first since 2005, but I’m sure he’ll be alright. Just please, not Dobbs.

Ya know, I joked about D-Bro being the sac king and I think that we all would love to see him come through with a big hit but after seeing an inning like this (and Valdez stranded on third a couple innings ago), it makes you appreciate the fact that he has been able to get that runner in from third.